While many fans hoped this was all a media-driven unsubstantial story, the truth is Crosby was always going to be traded. It was my belief since the day Pete Carroll was hired last year that Crosby would want out by time Carroll\u2019s tenure was over if the Raiders hadn\u2019t turned it around. He simply grew tired of losing. The incident in December when he was upset over being put on the injured reserve for the last two games against his wishes was the last star. Crosby was done. The Raiders finally realized it and decided to move on to help the rebuild process.<\/p>\n
The Raiders reportedly wanted a \u201cMicah Parsons package\u201d for Crosby. Last summer, the Green Bay Packers traded two first-round picks and a veteran player Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys for Parsons. The truth was, the Raiders weren\u2019t getting that much because Crosby is three years older than Parsons. But, in the end, the Raiders did well, getting two first rounders for Crosby. There was so much interest in the elite pass-rusher that, the Raiders were in position to get the two first rounders. It was set up well for them and took some of the sting out of dealing the superstar.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t hold it against Spytek:<\/p>\n
Last week, at the NFL Combine, Raiders\u2019 general manager John Spytek said he expected to keep Crosby and he was comfortable with how Crosby felt about the franchise. He did give himself an out that he would always listen to trade offers. But he was pretty firm that he was keeping Crosby. You can call Spytek a liar if you wish, but the reality is he played it right. What do you expect him to say? It was a truth situation and the process played out as expected.<\/p>\n
This can be a win-win-win trade for the Raiders, the Ravens and Crosby. He was badly ready to go to contender and now he\u2019s with Baltimore, a perennial playoff contender. New Ravens\u2019 head coach Jesse Minter is a defensive wiz and should have a lot of fun with Crosby with joins a solid defense. Crosby was an all-time great Raider. He played every snap and his motor was non-stop. He went from a little-known fourth-round pick from a small school to one of the best players in the NFL regardless of position. This is his time to shine. Also, I know some fans were frustrated that Crosby never said he did or didn\u2019t want to be traded. He kept quiet of out respect to fans. He played it right and he was a great Raider until the end.<\/p>\n
This deal was made to kickstart the rebuild (yes, another one). the Raiders are setup to improve this roster immensely. They have $119 million in salary-cap room the most in the NFL. They also have the most draft capital in the league, including the No 1 overall pick. They can sign whoever they want in free agency (expect a ton of spending as they need to meet the spending floor) and expect many draft trades. it\u2019s going to be wild. Spytek\u2019s future will be made or broken, in large part, what happens this offseason.<\/p>\n
Draft night is going to be fun:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s widely expected that the Raiders will select Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick. It\u2019s exciting for the future, but it makes for a dull draft process. Now, that the Raiders own the No. 14 overall pick, they can do some fun things. So, circle April 23 on your calendar. it\u2019s going to be a fun, wild night.<\/p>\n
Raiders must get this right:<\/p>\n
The Raiders can\u2019t let Crosby leave in vain. Eight years ago, they traded star pass-rusher Khalil Mack and they didn\u2019t do much with the draft haul they received. This situation must be different. The Raiders must make the Crosby trade the beginning of a successful rebuild.<\/p>\n
The Raiders have needs all over the field. Defensive end now, however, jumps to the near the front of line in terms of position needs. There are a ton of pass-rusher available (non of Crosby\u2019s caliber, though). They can make a play for Trey Hendrickson and Minnesota is open to trading Jonathan Greenard. The Raiders\u2019 staff has history with Jaelen Phillips and Odafe Oweh. Boye Mafe was in Seattle with new Raiders\u2019 head coach Klint Kubiak. They can also try to re-sign Malcolm Koonce. The draft is also an avenue Las Vegas could look to help replace Crosby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While many fans hoped this was all a media-driven unsubstantial story, the truth is Crosby was always going…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[19186,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-210310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-las-vegas-raiders-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}